Relative with Common Name, Multiple Matches.

[Ausigeni]

Hello everyone,

I'm new to Roots Chat. I have an extensive family tree on the go but I am hitting a brick wall with my Paternal Grandmother's family line.

The irony is that I met my Grandmother when I was a child, (I did not have that opportunity with any of my other Grandparents), I know her maiden name and where she lived and who she was married to but she shares a common first name with many others born around the same time and a last name that is so common that it's hard to tell which family line is hers.

The family on that side is now deceased and there was only one other family tree that listed her on Ancestry but they too have admittedly hit a brick wall.

I have found a marriage record for her, but I cannot decide between five different children with the same name and relative birth dates for a birth certificate. My grandfather, her husband, is listed in multiple family trees but as my grandmother was his second wife, most only list the first family details.

To further confound things, I did decide to sketch in a potential matching family for her but then took a DNA test which suggests that there are/or were eastern Europeans briefly in my line. There are no other opportunities in my tree for that to occur unless it happened in my missing line.

Any helpful tips and advice most welcome.

Thanks,

Paula

[chempat]

Welcome to rootschat, Paula.

Could you give us some names, places and dates so that we could track what the possibilities are, to suggest ways to eliminate some of the candidates?

We tend to ignore family trees on Ancestry and just look at what are known to be facts.

If this all happened in Australia, then different tips are appropriate than to other countries, which is why actual names and places are needed.

[lizdb]

You say you have found a marriage 'record' for her - have you actually got a copy of her marriage certificate?  That would be your first step as hopefully will give you a name and occupation for her father.

[Ausigeni]

I have come across a marriage record for her, they married in England. I'm ignorant to the process, is it common for parents names to be listed on the marriage certificates, especially if the couple was older when they married?

I'm a little hesitant to give names as grandparents are close relatives and some of their relatives are still alive. I guess what I'm really asking is, are there any instances where official records must carry the kind of information that will take you back a generation, other than a birth certificate?

Thanks to all:)

Paula

[rosie99]

The marriage certificate should name the fathers of the bride & groom and give their occupations.  Witnesses are often useful too.

[lizdb]

Copy of marriage cert can be ordered online here

https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/

Use the reference you found in the gro index (assuming that is where you found the record)

If you need help finding this, you will need to give us the names and year of the marriage (assuming both parties in it are now deceased. If not, then why not ask them for details of their parents?)

If it was a Church of England marriage, and IF the parish registers for that Church are online, then you may be lucky and be able to get the detials without ordering a cert - but again we dont know without knowing when and where!

[jim1]

There's no reason why you can't give the required information as it's already in the public domain on Ancestry.
Difficult to help without it.

[oots]

There's no reason why you can't give the required information as it's already in the public domain on Ancestry.
Difficult to help without it.

Yes. this is really true

[aghadowey]

You don't have to post anything you aren't comfortable with putting online but there may be other ways to work out your grandmother's background. Are we talking about England, Wales or Ireland?

If she got married in England then the marriage certificate should list father's name and occupation.

Does her death certificate list an exact place of birth? place?

Was she born before 1911? If so, should be listed in the census (we can't do lookups for it here but you might be able to find her on www.familysearch.org

If you are talking about Scotland or other countries then the advice and resources will vary.